Former Vatican prelate convicted of corruption in smuggling case

Scarano sentenced to three years in prison

An undated photo of Monsignor Nunzio Scarano in Salerno, Italy. ANSA said an appeals court in Rome Wednesday, Feb. 13, 2019, convicted the Rev. Nunzio Scarano of corruption and sentenced him to three years in prison

IN ROME: Italian news agency ANSA says a monsignor who had worked as a senior Vatican accountant has been convicted of corruption in connection with a failed cash-smuggling plot.

ANSA said a Rome appeals court Wednesday convicted the Rev. Nunzio Scarano of corruption and sentenced him to three years in prison.

In 2016, a lower court had acquitted Scarano, who had worked for years at a Vatican office that handled Holy See investments. Italian prosecutors in 2013 accused him of plotting to smuggle 20 million euros ($26 million) into Italy from Switzerland aboard an Italian government plane.

Scarano’s lawyer has said friends asked the monsignor to help them recover funds given to a broker to invest. But the alleged scheme never was realised, purportedly when the broker reneged on the arrangement.